Undergraduate

Professional Experience

Category Description

The goal of this category is to highlight the professional experiences that students take part in during their academic career. These experiences may be distinctly academic and involve academic credit, or they may be co-curricular in nature and not relate directly to academic credit.

Examples and Criteria

Examples of academic credit activities that satisfy this category include:

Internship—faculty monitored work experience for which students earn academic credit as part of their curriculum. Internships can be part-time or full-time, and can be paid or unpaid, OR

Cooperative Education Program—faculty monitored, repetitive work experiences that are part of the curriculum in three academic programs: Accounting, Computer Information Systems and Manufacturing Engineering. Co-op experiences are full-time and are generally paid, OR

Practicum—faculty monitored work experience that relates to the student's academic curriculum and may or may not earn academic credit. Practicums are generally offered in departments that do not offer internships or co-op experiences, OR

Student Teaching—faculty monitored teaching experience for which students earn academic credit as part of their curriculum, it is generally unpaid, OR

Activities or experiences that do not earn academic credit may also be used in this category. Examples include:

Shadowing—observing professional in the field of major, OR

Special projects—completing projects in field of major, OR

Non-credit internship—work experience that does not earn academic credit, but that is applicable to field of major. This does not include normal full-time employment.

Getting SET Category Approval

Students who participate in activities that earn academic credit and that are mentioned above will receive automatic approval for their Category 6 SET activity. To receive SET approval for a Category 6 activity that does not earn academic credit, students must complete the SET Activity Approval Form and submit it to their faculty sponsor. Any current faculty member may serve as a faculty sponsor. Approval of activities in Category 6 lies at the discretion of the faculty sponsor. Some faculty sponsors may require students to get pre-approvals prior the completion of activities. Students should check with their faculty sponsor to see if pre-approval is required. Once the activity has been completed and approved, faculty sponsors must sign the SET Activity Approval Form and submit it to Dr. Shari Payne, Dean of Engaged Learning. Questions should be directed to Dr. Payne at (412) 397-6235 or payne@rmu.edu.